(J.D. Power and Associates: West Lake Village, CA) -- After an improvement in the quality of newly launched models every year from 2007 to 2010, the initial quality of 2011 new-model launches has declined considerably, according to the J. D. Power and Associates 2011 U.S. Initial Quality Study (IQS) recently released. The study has been conducted annually for the past 25 years.

Vehicle launch challenges

Overall initial quality improved to an average of 107 problems per 100 vehicles (PP100) in 2011 from 109 PP100 in 2010. However, the initial quality of launch models—i.e., those that are all-new or have had major redesigns—worsened by 10 percent to an average of 122 PP100 in 2011, from 111 PP100 in 2010. Conversely, carryover models—i.e., those that have had no significant redesign in the past year—have better initial quality than ever before. Owners of these vehicles report an average of just 103 PP100 in 2011, compared with 108 PP100 in 2010.

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